Four meet records were shattered on the concluding day of the Sixth Indian Open U23 Athletics Competition 2026 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday, 18 October, with hammer throwers Nirbhay Choudhary of Delhi and Haqikat Grewal of Punjab headlining a record-breaking finale to the three-day meet.

Choudhary and Shahban rewrite men's hammer throw history

Nirbhay Choudhary unleashed a best throw of 66.32m to claim gold and erase the men's hammer throw meet record of 64.75m set by Nitesh Poonia of Rajasthan in 2022. Notably, silver medallist Mohammad Shahban of Uttar Pradesh also cleared the previous record with a throw of 65.27m, underlining the depth of talent on display. Bronze went to Prateek of Haryana with 59.20m.

Haqikat Grewal edges rivals in tightly contested women's hammer

The women's hammer throw produced a dramatic contest. Haqikat Grewal moved to the front on her second attempt, but it was her final throw of 55.46m that sealed a new meet record, surpassing the previous mark of 54.42m held by Tanya Chaudary. Silver medallist Soniya of Rajasthan pushed hard with her best of 52.16m, while Shivani Sharma of Haryana took bronze at 49.68m.

10,000m and 400m hurdles also produce record performances

In the men's 10,000m, the top three finishers all bettered the meet record of 29:44.64 set by Puneet Yadav in 2022. Gaurav Bhaskar of Maharashtra claimed gold in 29:34.52, followed by Satyam of Uttar Pradesh (29:36.45) and Mohit Choudhary of ONGC (29:37.19). In the men's 400m hurdles, Karna Bag of West Bengal edged to victory in 50.27 seconds, narrowly improving the meet record of 50.29 seconds set by Arjun Pradeep of Kerala in 2025. Aryan Prajwal of JSW finished a close second in 50.28 seconds.

Day-three full results

Men's 200m: Yuvraj E (Tamil Nadu) 21.01s; Dondapati M (Odisha) 21.04s; Nayan Shah (Maharashtra) 21.11s. Men's 800m: Akashdeep Singh (Punjab) 1:50.10; Shyam Milan Bind (Uttar Pradesh) 1:50.62; Naresh Gurjar (Air Force) 1:51.10. Men's 3000m steeplechase: Ranvir Kumar (Gujarat) 8:59.46; Ritesh Kumar (Haryana) 9:00.34; MD Nooruddin (Delhi) 9:00.42. Men's triple jump: Yuvraj K (Tamil Nadu) 15.64m; Pradeep Kumar (NCOE Bengaluru) 15.51m; Dablu Roy (BSF) 15.49m. Men's javelin: Shashank Patil (Karnataka) 76.16m; Aditya (Haryana) 75.48m; Manish (Haryana) 74.50m. Men's high jump: Aaditya Raguvanshi (Madhya Pradesh), Jomon Joy (Kerala) and Shyam Sunder (Air Force) all cleared 2.10m. Men's 21km half marathon race walk: Nitin Gupta (Uttar Pradesh) 1:29:51; Sachin Garhwal (Rajasthan) 1:30:04; Tushar Panwar (Uttarakhand) 1:30:19.

Women's 200m: Sonika (Haryana) 23.97s; Samriti Jamwal (Himachal Pradesh) 23.98s; Sakshi Champalal (Gujarat) 24.11s. Women's 800m: Prateeksha Yadav (IOCL) 2:06.92; Laxmipriya Kisan (Odisha) 2:08.34; Harshika (Delhi) 2:08.59. Women's 400m hurdles: Priyanka M (Karnataka) 1:00.25; Ashwini R (Tamil Nadu) 1:00.59; Apurva Anand Naik (Karnataka) 1:00.92. Women's 3000m steeplechase: Prachi Devkar (IOCL) 10:26.21; Susmita Tigga (Odisha) 10:36.08; Nikita (IOCL) 10:45.10. Women's triple jump: Marymukta Soreng (Odisha) 12.57m; Varshitha C (Karnataka) 12.50m; Monika (Haryana) 12.36m. Women's javelin: Deepika (JSW) 51.43m; Poonam (JSW) 50.45m; Jyoti (Haryana) 49.50m. Women's heptathlon: Bidisha Kundu (West Bengal) 5260 points; Tanishka Sharma (Delhi) 4800 points; Magudeeshwari S (Tamil Nadu) 4720 points.

What the results signal for Indian athletics

The volume of record-breaking performances across field events and track distances on a single day points to a widening talent pool at the under-23 level. The men's hammer throw — often considered a specialist event with limited competitive depth — produced two athletes clearing the previous record in the same competition, a relatively rare occurrence at domestic meets. With the national senior circuit and the 2027 Asian Athletics Championships on the horizon, several of Sunday's winners will be ones to watch.